1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to containers, and more particularly to a container for carrying live fish in water, and adapted to be carried in a well in a fishing boat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fishermen desire that fish that are caught be maintained in live condition as long as possible to reduce spoilage or deterioration of the meat. Likewise, sport fishermen who do not intend to eat their catch desire to maintain the catch alive so that the fish can be returned to the body of water from which they were caught. Heretofore, a common method for keeping such fish alive was to place them on a stringer and to allow the fish to remain submerged in the body of water and on the stringer, with the end of the stringer connected to the fishing boat. However, that method could possibly lead to injury of the fish as a result of the stringer passing through the gills and mouth of the fish.
Another method of keeping caught fish alive is to provide a submersible creel that is submerged in the water, and is in the form of a perforated enclosure. An example of such a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,577, which issued Oct. 9, 1956, to E.P. Scruggs.
Another technique for maintaining caught fish in a live condition is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3.304,645, which issued Feb. 21, 1967, to R. D. Hardesty et al. In that patent a live bait and fish container is disclosed in the form of a container that is at least partially filled with water to contain fish, and is adapted to float in the water adjacent to a boat and to be tied to the boat so it can be pulled along with it.
Even though the devices that have heretofore been developed can help to maintain the fish in a live state while the fisherman continues to fish, where the fisherman is participating in a fishing contest, in which it is usually required that the fish that are caught be kept alive, weighed, and then returned alive to the body of water from which they are taken, each fish must individually be removed from a stringer or a submerged creel for weighing. Oftentimes the fish are placed in plastic bags partially filled with water in an effort to keep the fish alive. However, in the course of removing the fish from a stringer or retrieving it from a live well, injury is sometimes caused to the fish, and that injury sometimes kills the fish. In tournament fishing, dead fish could result in a penalty being imposed against the fisherman. Further, the fish in the plastic bags must be carried to the scales, the water must then be released from the bag, and the fish weighed on the scale. Then, after the weighing has been completed, the fish are again placed in the plastic bags for carrying back to the body of water so that they can be released.
The above-described methods are cumbersome, and also lead to dead or injured fish. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the problems described above, and to provide an improved fish container and carrier that is particularly adapted to keeping the fish alive, and to permit them to be conveniently carried to a weighing scale and thereafter to be returned to the body of water from which they were taken, all without injury to the fish.